Interest vs obsession - whats the difference?

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Obsession:

Can be unhealthy
Can't always stop thinking about it
Can let it takes over one's life
Can develop into antisocial behaviour such as stalking (if it's an obsession with people or a certain person)
Usually the obsession chooses the person
Sometimes the obsession isn't even enjoyed

Special interests are healthier and are usually based on more interesting things like facts, animals, a subject, movies, hobbies, etc.

Obsessions are - well - obsessive. They consume you.

Years ago I was so obsessed with a TV show that it was literally the first thing I thought about on waking and the last thing at night. I thought about it while at work, it was my 'go to' place in my head. When I got home I wrote stories about the show. I fantasised about it. It was on my mind, night and day. I couldn't think about anything else.

These days I have interests but I'm not obsessive about them. One of mine is birds. I have bird books and read up about them. But that doesn't take over my daily life. I pick up the books as and when I need to.

That was me too, back when I was a teenager. The obsession consumed me, like being addicted to drugs or something. My schoolwork didn't matter. Even my friends didn't matter. All that mattered to me at the time was these certain people I was obsessed with. I thought about them all the time, and it was so hard not to talk about them. I knew I was boring people but how can you not talk about something that has overtaken your mind? Even if I did talk about other things, the obsession would still be added into whatever I was saying, even if it had nothing to do with it. I just couldn't think about anything else. Nothing in the world was as interesting as these stupid people I was obsessed with. They were just common, working-class people that lived locally. Yet I was somehow completely crazy about them. I followed them around town, got their company number and called them (which got me into trouble), and made excuses to knock on their door and talk to them, and more. I wasn't planning on causing any harm, I was just so, so, so obsessed. The obsession gave me these mental urges to go out of my way to find out more about them and get their attention. I'm so glad that obsession fizzled out before I was an adult.

Yes that was me but with TV characters. I completely relate. I was like it as a teenager but with a different Tv show and I couldn't help bring it into the conversation because it was all I thought about. Unfortunately for me I developed an obsession with another TV show as a young adult (in my 20s) and I was not only working but married at the time. Looking back, it's obvious the obsession was an escape because the marriage was abusive, I had been bullied throughout my life by family and school, and I literally had no one. It's pretty sad really but the TV characters helped me through that time. Once I started dealing with the issues I had the obsession began to fall away.